Just Amazing
Posted: December 22nd, 2017 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 68 Comments »
I just read a piece by Gil Brandt on his top young QBs in the NFL. I think you’ll like number one.
This is a rare talent. Wentz, 24, has everything you need to be a successful quarterback in the NFL, and guys like that just don’t come around very often. He’s tough, athletic and strong. The thing that impressed me the most about his second pro season was how well he played on third down. There are usually more defensive backs on the field on third down, making it that much harder to complete a pass, but Wentz put together off-the-charts, third-down numbers: a 65.3 percent completion rate with a league-high passer rating of 123.7. I think his torn ACL was more of a freak injury than the result of something endemic to the way he plays, and I expect he’ll recover fully and be the same aggressive player when he returns, as willing to take off and run as ever.
2017 stats: 13 games | 60.2 pct | 3,296 pass yds | 7.5 ypa | 33 pass TD | 7 INT | 299 rush yds | 0 rush TD
There is a video of Wentz’s Top 5 plays on the link.
The first play is from the season opener and you hear the announcer say something about “Sproles”. For some reason, it hit me how crazy it is that this team has stayed so good with Darren Sproles, Jason Peters, Jordan Hicks, Chris Maragos and Caleb Sturgis all being out for the year.
Peters and Hicks would have been two of my most irreplaceable Eagles. Peters was not only the LT, but the leader of the O-line. Heck, he was one of the key leaders for the whole team. Just ask Jake Elliott.
https://twitter.com/JClarkNBCS/status/913040882361884672
Hicks ran the defense and provided stability in the middle. He also had been a turnover machine in the first couple of years of his career. Hicks had 7 INTs, 1 FF and 4 FR coming into this season. Takeaways are game-changers. Losing that would really hurt the defense.
Sproles offered impact on offense and STs. Defenses had to account for him on 3rd downs. You weren’t going to replace him with just any other RB. He was the punt returner, caught 52 passes and scored 4 TDs last year. He was a playmaker.
Maragos was the leader of the STs units. He was a good player as well.
Sturgis was a terrific kicker for the Eagles last year. You don’t just replace those guys automatically.
Now think about Zach Ertz missing two starts and Ronald Darby missing half the season. More impact players. Oh yeah, and Wentz is now out for the year. He missed the end of the Rams game and all of last week.
Somehow, this team keeps rolling along.
Doug Pederson has done an amazing job. He doesn’t have much of a shot to win coach of the year because of the crazy turnaround by the Rams. Sean McVay deserves a ton of credit and will probably win the award. But Pederson has had to overcome so much and the Eagles don’t seem to miss a beat. The backup QB threw 4 TDs last week.
That’s not luck or by accident. Pederson has this team performing at a high level. He is getting the most out of his players. He’s calling the right plays. He’s saying the right things in the locker room. The players are responding in a big way.
Andy Reid is the best coach in Eagles history. I would put Pederson’s 2017 coaching job up against anything Reid ever did. That’s no insult to Big Red, but it shows you just how special this year is and what a great job Pederson has done.
I can’t wait to see how this season turns out.
*****
One of the reasons that Pederson has done such a great job is that he has built such a great staff. Unfortunately, the Eagles are probably going to lose an assistant or two this offseason.
Watch this video with John DeFilippo. I don’t see how a team that is looking for a coach could watch this and not come away drooling. Flip has done a good job with developing young QBs. He knows X’s and O’s. He seems like a natural communicator.
I would love for the Eagles to be able to keep him around, but I’ll be shocked if some team doesn’t hire Flip and give him a shot.
_
“…but he doesn’t do a good press conference.”
— Koy: The Legend of Neckbeard, idiot.
Was that a remark Koy made regarding Wentz?
I made it about Pederson, multiple times
O lol. I see now.
Maybe he needs to dress like an idiot, make a sexist remark.
Wow, sort of shocked that Wentz didn’t have a rushing TD. Ironic that one of his last plays of the year he ran for a TD. As we all know it was unfortunately called back though.
two of them. They did a QB sneak on another that called back.
It’s a damn shame. I just wonder if he would have put his body on the line like that if it wasn’t an important and tight game.
Can’t help but think if we hadn’t been so sloppy leading up to that situation, maybe Carson throws it away or just slides. 3 or 4 bad plays and we were up 3 scores at that point instead of driving to retake the lead. Or maybe not Carson is a bigtime competitor. Hopefully this is something he learns from and doesn’t try to be Cam Newton (which, by the way, it’s incredible that Newton hasn’t had that many major injuries from his running plays.)
Wentz is a big strong boy, but he ain’t Cam Newton. Cam has had some pretty significant injuries that he has had to have repaired in the off-season by the way. Just hasn’t torn a ligament.
I don’t know how you can take the list of players that have been injured this year and tell me Sean McVay is the coach of the year. Pederson beat McVay with his backup QB, LT, RB, TE (leading receiver), and MLB. Figuratively one hand tied behind the back. I don’t even think this is green tinted glasses.
I think the Rams were the perceived bigger turnaround story. I think in isolation Pederson wins it, but since the Rams were so shit last year, Mcvay probably wins because of that.
Not like we were picked to have some stellar record.
Especially because Pederson went into LA and used a backup QB to defeat McVay.
Right? It’s not like EVERYONE didn’t pick the Eagles last in the NFC East either. So the fact they were picking the Rams there too shouldn’t matter. I would say the East is probably better than the West as well, right? Can’t get angry if our guy doesn’t get it, but shiiiiaaat, I might get angry.
http://nowwut.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/10946392_826595617377478_1796869053_n.jpg
Revisionist history, bro. Several of these analysts on NFL.com picked the Eagles to win the division. And as I think you’ve pointed out repeatedly, the Eagles weren’t even bad last year (ended ranked #4 in DVOA).
Not a single analyst picked the Rams. The Rams are one of the biggest turnaround in NFL history.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000836577/article/2017-nfc-playoff-predictions-giants-take-east-falcons-repeat
More displaying saltyness over pre-season disrespect than appreciation for what the Rams have done. It is impressive, but they very well could have more than 1 NFL position best. They are a good likeable team, but meh I want my team to get all of the accolades.
You know I’m still not over Doug not challenging that forward pass from Wilson. I get that he’s listening to the guys in the booth or whatever but… Jesus was that a huge play.
I called Doug and he told me that he wanted to stick it to you and only you by not challenging.
There entire challenge process needs to be reexamined over the off-season so they can figure out how to get better at that. And the league needs to hire me as the full time replay judge.
shouldn’t the fact that the Eagles beat the Rams in L.A. count. Doug won the head to head match up. He gets the tie breaker.
Did anybody read about it this weekend?
Dallas Head Coach Jerry Jones announced that Zeke will run the ball about 20-25 time in his return game against the Seahawks. What?? Hahaha.
What would it be like if Jeff Lurie announced that Jay Ajayi would run it 18-20 times this week against the Raiders? It’s crazy for the owner to be doing that.
How would that make the head coach look. Never heard of anything like that before.
Your point is valid, but I don’t think he’s letting out anything that wasn’t widely known.
Just rude of Jerry to speak for the offensive game plan. It undermines the head coach.
I am grateful for Jeff Lurie this holiday season!
It might not be for another year to avoid looking too vindictive, but Mr. Goodell is coming for Jerruh.
that already happened this year
How so? The Zeke punishment wasn’t directed at Jones, it was a pure strike against domestic violence.
His team, he has always done stuff like this. You know I used to HATE Jerrah, but I am pretty sure I would *really* like him if he owned our team. From a personal stand-point that is. He ruined so many seasons for that team…new Jerry though, that is only lip service… I would like that one.
Jerry Jones is a garbage human being. It used to be to the Eagles benefit that he hung around, but at this point I think he’s doing irreparable damage to the league.
Garbage human being. Hmm.
He’s a blowhard ass-clown, and I wouldn’t like that as a team owner anymore than I do for President.
So, did he officially name himself head coach then? I thought he was still using that wooden puppet.
“Dallas Head Coach Jerry Jones announced that “Zeke will run the ball about 20-25 times” in his return game against the Seahawks. What?? Hahaha.”
Jones is not the head coach of the Cowboys. He’s the head case.
The success of McVay at 31 means that DeFilippo is going to be flavour of the month.
Just watched the video and Flip comes across like a leader.
He’s using inclusive language all the way.
He’s highlighting the improvements Nelson’s made and attributing them to Groh.
If he has a clear & credible plan for a team, not just an offence he’s gone.
I wonder if our best hope is that Frank R gets an HC job and we can promote Flip?
I wish we could just offer them huge piles of money to stay where they are now. It’s going to hurt to lose so many talented coaches.
Really the best scenario for a team is finding a coach who’s good at what he does and is a lifer at that coaching position. Like that New England OL coach who’s been doing it for decades, and actually came back out of retirement to keep being the Pats OL coach.
As long as the Eagles are willing to keep writing big checks for assistant coaches, you’d have to believe that more young coaching talent would be willing to come here and replace the coaching talent we’d lose.
With Wentz, our offense should be an obvious place to climb the ladder, like working under Belichick or being D Coordinator for the Legion of Boom.
This is a big reason why I think Lurie is a good owner. He doesn’t just make one splashy head coach hire (a la Dan Snyder) he’s willing to pay for talent at all levels of the organization. It seems like the Eagles are one of the few franchises -Seattle looks similar -to do this.
You know, Wentz might still be the league leader in touchdowns after this week. Brady isn’t going to throw 5 to tie, Wilson needs 3 to tie, and everyone else on the list would need record setting performances to get in the neighborhood. Makes me wonder if in the right circumstances Wentz finishes with the most passing TD’s in the league despite missing 3 games and change.
If you look up some of the recent Buffalo at New England scores you might lose some of that optimism.
The Rams have improved by 6 games vs all of 2016 so far, while the Eagles have improved by 5, while the Eagles have done it at least one game with their back up QB while Goff hasn’t missed a game. If the Eagles win Monday I think Pederson has an excellent chance to win COTY.
Especially after the Rams lose to the Titans on Sunday and the Eagles beat the Rams in the divisional round.
I know a lot of you don’t like the NFL franchise to Europe talk, but have any of you seen that Carolina’s lease is up in 2018? The league LOVES playing potential owners up against one another, cities up against one another, etc.
I know the tax situation for players would require some very creative planning, but how would folks feel about………
– Mexico City Chargers (they’re renting space in the Rams new stadium, hardly a difficult “deal” to change)
– London Jags (they’re not playing there twice a year just for giggles)
– Berlin or Munich Panthers ( Germany gave huge support to WLAF / NFL Europe when they had teams there in the past)
Mexico City is obvious; it’s close, a ton of people live there, and the combined Mexican / Mexican American fan demographic would be a huge driver of TV revenue.
The advantage of adding both London and a German market is that you also get a huge TV boost, but you could put both teams in the AFC “South” so Indy, Houston, the two teams from the division the AFC South plays in the AFC, and the two teams from the division the AFC South plays in the NFC can all go do London and Germany on back to back weekends to cut down on the travel concerns. Same for the travel of the two European teams back to the US.
Oh, and the advantage of the European teams always being set with two of them is that you can get a ton of 9:30 AM games on the schedule to make that it’s own separate broadcast deal for the American market.
And yes, it would be a dream to do a 10 day is trip to Europe to see the Eagles both in London and in Germany with some excellent stops in France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, etc. in between.
I’d be all for it.
I am English though and live in the UK
Do you agree that the TV rights for a full time English and German team would be huge in terms of revenue for the league?
carpet bagging is one of the NFL’s problems
hold up a city and extract taxpayer paid subsidies and then split to do it again. I hope the XFL comes back and puts some fear in the NFL
Agree with your point, but I’m not sure that’s what carpet-bagging means.
carpet baggers are unscrupulous opportunists who profit from situations. I am referring to the NFL coming into a town and then demanding tax breaks and giveaways only to leave town when the lease is up. The taxpayers are left paying for empty stadiums while the NFL pulls the scam on another city.
San Diego, Cleveland, Baltimore, St Louis have all been used by owners and the NFL. The Eagles almost left Philly once.
XFL will be a developmental league this incarnation. Vince has had an arrangement to filter big NFL guys who can’t make rosters to him for a while.
I assumed he was doing this for wrestling or more nefarious purposes.
Not to mention that the Bills are essentially the Buffalo-Toronto Bills at this point.
The Bills ended that deal though; haven’t had home regular season games in Toronto for several years
When supersonic travel becomes marketable again, I think they’ll give Europe a real shot.
https://boomsupersonic.com
Mexico City seems the most obvious to me, though. The Mexico City Jaguar Warriors would be the ideal name when Jacksonville becomes the London Monarchs.
I have no problem with playing games in Europe or Mexico, but hate all of those ideas for moving a franchise abroad permanently.
Honestly if the NFL screws over good, long-standing US fanbases in a wild goose chase after profits in London or Berlin they deserve for that to be the act of hubris and greed that finally pops the bubble on the league and sends it into decline. Having spent a good amount of time in both places I can attest there is nothing wrong with either San Diego or Charlotte as an NFL market.
How good can the fan bases be in Jacksonville or Charlotte? I was Eagles / Jags in 2002; the place is a dump full of inbreds. They don’t fill their stadium and are forced to tarp over parts of it to have a “sell out.”
People in Charlotte cheer for Cam Newton; that’s also the sign of stupidity.
I can’t speak to Jacksonville but my dad moved down to Charlotte about 10 years ago and I’ve spent a fair amount of time there over the past decade. People are into the Panthers, they sell out the games, they’ve built a loyal fan base among people who were previously Falcons or Redskins fans or only followed college football, etc. As for Cam, his strutting on the field annoys me but he does a lot of charity work in the community down there and i understand why he’s well-liked by their fans.
That’s all 100% true, but doesn’t support my hatred of Cam………..
But you’re correct they show strong support of that team, it was actually a nice place to visit in 2003 when I went down for the Eagles game.
I’m just not sure they’ll get another owner who is vested in Charlotte if a larger city comes calling and the league wants to leverage that lease being up in 2018.
Las Panteras de Ciudad de Mexico, guay.
Or:
Caballos de Guera de Ciudad de Mexico.
I still contend that Jake is lucky Peters wasn’t hungry that day.
You mention Hicks, The first thing that popped in my head was Bradham’s dropped balls. Think Hicks makes at least 2 of those plays
The first thing that popped in my head was Bradham’s dropped balls
http://img76.laughinggif.com/pic/HTTPS9tZWRpYS5naXBoeS5jb20vbWVkaWEvdWVlam1xRlVZa1N3OC9naXBoeS5naWYlog.gif
Yeah, Hicks picks those and nimbly runs downfield for big gains!
McVay has done an impressive job and I wouldn’t be outraged if he won the CotY award, but personally I think Pederson deserves it. Despite their 4-12 record last year the Rams have a lot of talent, almost all of which has remained healthy. Pederson has kept winning and winning big despite losing 3 of the 5 best players on the opening day roster for the season, including the starting QB.
Nothing against McVay, but the award should really go to Jeff Fisher for being such a horrible head coach.
McVay should get it but troll Jeff Fisher by bringing out all the players he drafted and failed to properly use to the middle of the field to accept the award.
Not to mention DP and the Eagles beat the Rams in LA with Wentz injured in the 4th quarter. With a backup who really hadn’t played any significant minutes all season, he was able to pull of a comeback win on the road against a great team. That’s pretty damn impressive.
I think DP deserves props for our transition from being a mediocre/sub-par team to an elite team. I mean, he was instrumental in:
The maturation of Carson Wentz
Keeping the OL together despite significant injuries
Aggressive play-calling/2 point conversion attempts
Better job of protecting the football
Creative offensive play-calling
Fully showcasing and utilizing our RBs
Maturation and development of Nelson Agoholor and Zach Ertz
etc. etc. etc.
The guy still has room to grow, but he’s done one hell of a job this year and imo, is the COY. I would understand if McVay gets it, but I give the nod to Dougie P.
Giving McVay coach of the year means you’re giving Jeff Fisher the Worst Coach of the Decade recognition.
I never realized Wentz had almost 300 yards rushing.
Either Pederspm gets COTY or Wentz gets MVP. Getting neither in this season would be unjustifiable.